Identification of icp11, the most highly expressed gene of shrimp white spot syndrome virus (WSSV)

• Published in: Diseases of aquatic organisms Vol. 74; no. 3; pp. 179 - 189
• Main Authors: WANG, Han-Ching, WANG, Hao-Ching, KOU, Guang-Hsiung, LO, Chu-Fang, HUANG, Wei-Pang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oldendorf Inter-Research 13.03.2007
• Subjects: Amino Acid Sequence; Animal aquaculture; Animal productions; Animals; Antibodies, Viral - analysis; Antibodies, Viral - metabolism; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Blotting, Western; Crustacea; DNA, Viral - chemistry; Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; Expressed Sequence Tags; Fluorescein-5-isothiocyanate - analysis; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Profiling; Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; Gills - chemistry; Gills - virology; Hemocytes - virology; Invertebrate aquaculture; Invertebrates; Molecular Sequence Data; Pathology; Penaeidae - virology; Protein Array Analysis - veterinary; Viral Nonstructural Proteins - analysis; Viral Nonstructural Proteins - biosynthesis; Viral Nonstructural Proteins - genetics; Viral Nonstructural Proteins - metabolism; White spot syndrome virus 1 - genetics; icpl11; Farming animal; White spot syndrome virus; Zoopathogen; Penaeus monodon; Gene expression; Macrura; Immunological method; Penaeus monodon White spot syndrome virus; Crustacea; Marine environment; Virus; Edible crustacean; Immuno-based detection; Gene; Arthropoda; Pathogenic; WSSV; Decapoda; Invertebrata; Detection
• ISSN: 0177-5103; 1616-1580
• DOI: 10.3354/dao074179

This study investigates white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) gene expression levels in the cells of 2 hosts (Penaeus monodon and Litopenaeus vannamei). Microarray and expressed sequence tag (EST) analysis of the mRNA profiles in WSSV-infected P. monodon cells were used to identify WSSV genes that were very highly expressed. Results showed that the mRNA of the WSSV icp11 gene consistently had the highest copy number of all (3x higher than the major envelope protein, VP28). At the protein level in WSSV-infected L. vannamei, 2-dimensional gel analysis and liquid chromatography-nano-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-nanoESI-MS/MS) protein identification also showed that this WSSV non-structural protein has the highest expression levels reported to date. ICP11 is capable of self-multimerization, and it becomes located in both the cytoplasm and nucleus of the host cell. These data suggest that ICP11 plays an important, but presently unknown, role during viral infection, and that expression of the WSSV icp11 gene/WSSV ICP11 protein is potentially a good and diagnostically useful indicator of WSSV infection.